What do you think?
Rate this book
The Glassmaker
From the bestselling historical novelist, a rich, transporting story that follows a family of glassmakers from the height of Renaissance-era Italy to present day.
It is 1486 and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers in Murano, the island revered for the craft. As a woman, she is not meant to work with glass—but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision. When her father dies, she teaches herself to make beads in secret, and her work supports the Rosso family fortunes.
Skipping like a stone through the centuries, in a Venice where time moves as slowly as molten glass, we follow Orsola and her family as they live through creative triumph and heartbreaking loss, from a plague devastating Venice to Continental soldiers stripping its palazzos bare, from the domination of Murano and its maestros to the transformation of the city of trade into a city of tourists. In every era, the Rosso women ensure that their work, and their bonds, endure.
Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glassmaker is as inventive as it is spellbinding: a mesmerizing portrait of a woman, a family, and a city that are as everlasting as their glass.
It is 1486 and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers in Murano, the island revered for the craft. As a woman, she is not meant to work with glass—but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision. When her father dies, she teaches herself to make beads in secret, and her work supports the Rosso family fortunes.
Skipping like a stone through the centuries, in a Venice where time moves as slowly as molten glass, we follow Orsola and her family as they live through creative triumph and heartbreaking loss, from a plague devastating Venice to Continental soldiers stripping its palazzos bare, from the domination of Murano and its maestros to the transformation of the city of trade into a city of tourists. In every era, the Rosso women ensure that their work, and their bonds, endure.
Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glassmaker is as inventive as it is spellbinding: a mesmerizing portrait of a woman, a family, and a city that are as everlasting as their glass.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published June 18, 2024
About the author
Tracy Chevalier
67 books10.4k followersBorn:
19 October 1962 in Washington, DC. Youngest of 3 children. Father was a photographer for The Washington Post.
Childhood:
Nerdy. Spent a lot of time lying on my bed reading. Favorite authors back then: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madeleine L’Engle, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Joan Aiken, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander. Book I would have taken to a desert island: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.
Education:
BA in English, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1984. No one was surprised that I went there; I was made for such a progressive, liberal place.
MA in creative writing, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, 1994. There’s a lot of debate about whether or not you can be taught to write. Why doesn’t anyone ask that of professional singers, painters, dancers? That year forced me to write all the time and take it seriously.
Geography:
Moved to London after graduating from Oberlin in 1984. I had studied for a semester in London and thought it was a great place, so came over for fun, expecting to go back to the US after 6 months to get serious. I’m still in London, and still not entirely serious. Even have dual citizenship – though I keep the American accent intact.
Family:
1 English husband + 1 English son.
Career:
Before writing, was a reference book editor, working on encyclopedias about writers. (Yup, still nerdy.) Learned how to research and how to make sentences better. Eventually I wanted to fix my own sentences rather than others’, so I quit and did the MA.
Writing:
Talked a lot about becoming a writer as a kid, but actual pen to paper contact was minimal. Started writing short stories in my 20s, then began first novel, The Virgin Blue, during the MA year. With Girl With a Pearl Earring (written in 1998), I became a full-time writer.
19 October 1962 in Washington, DC. Youngest of 3 children. Father was a photographer for The Washington Post.
Childhood:
Nerdy. Spent a lot of time lying on my bed reading. Favorite authors back then: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madeleine L’Engle, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Joan Aiken, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander. Book I would have taken to a desert island: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.
Education:
BA in English, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1984. No one was surprised that I went there; I was made for such a progressive, liberal place.
MA in creative writing, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, 1994. There’s a lot of debate about whether or not you can be taught to write. Why doesn’t anyone ask that of professional singers, painters, dancers? That year forced me to write all the time and take it seriously.
Geography:
Moved to London after graduating from Oberlin in 1984. I had studied for a semester in London and thought it was a great place, so came over for fun, expecting to go back to the US after 6 months to get serious. I’m still in London, and still not entirely serious. Even have dual citizenship – though I keep the American accent intact.
Family:
1 English husband + 1 English son.
Career:
Before writing, was a reference book editor, working on encyclopedias about writers. (Yup, still nerdy.) Learned how to research and how to make sentences better. Eventually I wanted to fix my own sentences rather than others’, so I quit and did the MA.
Writing:
Talked a lot about becoming a writer as a kid, but actual pen to paper contact was minimal. Started writing short stories in my 20s, then began first novel, The Virgin Blue, during the MA year. With Girl With a Pearl Earring (written in 1998), I became a full-time writer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 296 reviews
May 31, 2024
This novel is an imaginative telling of the art glassmaking through the centuries on the island of Murano off the city of Venice. Tracy Chevalier blends history, the Murano and Venetian cultures, the role of women, family, the essence of life, death, love and all of this with one family at the center of it. The structure is fascinating as we follow the Rosso family over 500 years, and how their lives are affected by historical events bringing prosperity, plague, poverty, with the same characters positioned in various time frames, only a few years older even though decades have passed. With “time alla Veneziana”, the passage of time , like a “skipping stone”, they remain themselves just in a new time, each time the current time for them. It’s one of those stories where you just have to trust your imagination. I’m glad I did.
Orsola Russo from six to her sixties is a character to remember for her passion for the art of glass bead making even in times when women were forbidden from working with glass, for her perseverance, and for her dedication to family in times of prosperity and hardship. All of the characters are fully realized from Orsola’s strong and sharp mother to her brothers and sister in laws to the business connections in Venice and her loves.
So much happens here, but I prefer not to give plot details which you can find elsewhere. I can’t quite give it 5 stars as it felt a little too ambitious trying to cover all the decades and that resulted in some time frames dragging on a little and others glossed over from the Plague to Covid. However, I’ve read several of Chevalier’s novels and this is my favorite. A touching ending to say the least with a little of the “terrafirma” where time moves ahead not as “time alla Veneziana”. Recommended for Chevalier fans and historical fiction readers .
I received a copy of this book from Penguin Random House through
Edelweiss & NetGalley.
Orsola Russo from six to her sixties is a character to remember for her passion for the art of glass bead making even in times when women were forbidden from working with glass, for her perseverance, and for her dedication to family in times of prosperity and hardship. All of the characters are fully realized from Orsola’s strong and sharp mother to her brothers and sister in laws to the business connections in Venice and her loves.
So much happens here, but I prefer not to give plot details which you can find elsewhere. I can’t quite give it 5 stars as it felt a little too ambitious trying to cover all the decades and that resulted in some time frames dragging on a little and others glossed over from the Plague to Covid. However, I’ve read several of Chevalier’s novels and this is my favorite. A touching ending to say the least with a little of the “terrafirma” where time moves ahead not as “time alla Veneziana”. Recommended for Chevalier fans and historical fiction readers .
I received a copy of this book from Penguin Random House through
Edelweiss & NetGalley.
June 10, 2024
The Glassmaker is a captivating work of historical fiction that depicts one family of glassmakers living on Murano. It is a glimpse into the life of a women, Orsola, who has a passion for glass in a time where it is looked down upon. Readers are shown her triumphs, her losses, her successes, her love, her passion, and her drive throughout time.
1486- Murano, Italy
Venice is the center for trade. The Rosso family are glassmakers living on Murano, who have recently lost their patriarch. Orsola is the eldest daughter who aspires for more in her life, as her brother Marco takes over as glassmaker. He is young, stubborn, cocky and lacks the experience, expertise and skill that his father possessed. The family struggles and Orsola learns to make glass beads from a female mentor and does her best to make money for her beads. She experiences scorn, jesting, and insults from her brother Marco, but is determined and keeps making them.
This book takes place during the times of Renaissance-era Italy to the present day. It follows one family who age slowly during this time. It was a very clever touch, and readers are shown how the characters grow, adapt, struggle, triumph, and survive. During this time, they will fall in love, endure heartbreak, grow, marry, become parents, and survive the many changes that Venice will experience through time.
Who knew I would be so invested in a tale about glassmakers? Years ago, I took a Vaporetto from Venice to Murano. I visited a touristy glass shop and had to smile as Orsola discusses the tourist shops vs. the other glass shops on Murano.
I enjoyed how the book transcended time and the family endured through time, experiencing all the changes and challenges of each decade.
Tracy Chevalier discusses her extensive research and visits with glassmakers that were made prior to writing this book. Her research paid off and the result was this beautifully written book. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions, the writing, the family dynamics, and the well thought out plot.
Beautifully written, well thought out, and gripping.
Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Viking | Viking and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
1486- Murano, Italy
Venice is the center for trade. The Rosso family are glassmakers living on Murano, who have recently lost their patriarch. Orsola is the eldest daughter who aspires for more in her life, as her brother Marco takes over as glassmaker. He is young, stubborn, cocky and lacks the experience, expertise and skill that his father possessed. The family struggles and Orsola learns to make glass beads from a female mentor and does her best to make money for her beads. She experiences scorn, jesting, and insults from her brother Marco, but is determined and keeps making them.
This book takes place during the times of Renaissance-era Italy to the present day. It follows one family who age slowly during this time. It was a very clever touch, and readers are shown how the characters grow, adapt, struggle, triumph, and survive. During this time, they will fall in love, endure heartbreak, grow, marry, become parents, and survive the many changes that Venice will experience through time.
Who knew I would be so invested in a tale about glassmakers? Years ago, I took a Vaporetto from Venice to Murano. I visited a touristy glass shop and had to smile as Orsola discusses the tourist shops vs. the other glass shops on Murano.
I enjoyed how the book transcended time and the family endured through time, experiencing all the changes and challenges of each decade.
Tracy Chevalier discusses her extensive research and visits with glassmakers that were made prior to writing this book. Her research paid off and the result was this beautifully written book. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions, the writing, the family dynamics, and the well thought out plot.
Beautifully written, well thought out, and gripping.
Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Viking | Viking and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
May 28, 2024
Tracy Chevalier transports us to Venice, specifically the island of Murano. It’s 1486, the height of the Italian Renaissance and the novel introduces us to Orsola Rosso at the age of nine, her family are glassmakers whose greatest rivals are the Barovier’s who are at the forefront of new glass designs. In 1494 disaster strikes the Rosso’s when Lorenzo, the patriarch, is killed in a work room incident and the business faces ruin.
With advice from Maria, the Barovier matriarch, a change of direction is needed, that of glass beads. Beads that Orsola can make and what’s more, they’re currently in demand and so she learns the art.The novel follows Orsola, her family and glassmaking through time. Will the Rosso family, especially the volatile brother Marco, ever give Orsola the credit she deserves?
Venice, Murano, glassmaking and the skill of Tracy Chevalier, I think we’re onto a winner. The author captures the unique atmosphere of Venice and although I’ve been to Murano and indeed own some of its glass, I’ve never thought much about its history which the author makes really interesting as it’s personalised via Orsola and the Rosso family. What happens to glass making mirrors the ups and downs of Venice itself and are witnesses to its changes through time. I enjoy the focus on beads which women such as Orsola have an important role to play.
The most creative aspect of the novel is how the author magically plays with time and gets me to buy into it. The idea of skipping stones, time and those in and on Murano aging differently to terra firma is wonderful and the historical context is excellent. As ever Tracy Chevalier extensively researches and I love the inclusion of real characters such as Giacomo Casanova and Josephine Bonaparte.
Orsola is an interesting and complex character, she is definitely an intriguing personality and I admire her resilience as she endures various losses. I don’t think she resonates as much with me as Violet Speedwell in the novel A Single Thread but her portrayal is none the less excellent. The novel is full of vibrant characters who bring colour to the pages.
The novel is without doubt beautifully written with close attention to historical detail bringing this glass making saga across time alive. There’s some wonderful symbolism scattered throughout, especially of dolphins which I love and that is used so well in the final twist of the storytelling. It’s original, different and transporting which is par for the course with this gifted writer.
What I didn’t like is the regular interspersing of Italian words and phrases. I know some Italian and it is easy to work out the words I don’t know but still, it doesn’t seem necessary to me!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, HarperFiction, The Borough Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
With advice from Maria, the Barovier matriarch, a change of direction is needed, that of glass beads. Beads that Orsola can make and what’s more, they’re currently in demand and so she learns the art.The novel follows Orsola, her family and glassmaking through time. Will the Rosso family, especially the volatile brother Marco, ever give Orsola the credit she deserves?
Venice, Murano, glassmaking and the skill of Tracy Chevalier, I think we’re onto a winner. The author captures the unique atmosphere of Venice and although I’ve been to Murano and indeed own some of its glass, I’ve never thought much about its history which the author makes really interesting as it’s personalised via Orsola and the Rosso family. What happens to glass making mirrors the ups and downs of Venice itself and are witnesses to its changes through time. I enjoy the focus on beads which women such as Orsola have an important role to play.
The most creative aspect of the novel is how the author magically plays with time and gets me to buy into it. The idea of skipping stones, time and those in and on Murano aging differently to terra firma is wonderful and the historical context is excellent. As ever Tracy Chevalier extensively researches and I love the inclusion of real characters such as Giacomo Casanova and Josephine Bonaparte.
Orsola is an interesting and complex character, she is definitely an intriguing personality and I admire her resilience as she endures various losses. I don’t think she resonates as much with me as Violet Speedwell in the novel A Single Thread but her portrayal is none the less excellent. The novel is full of vibrant characters who bring colour to the pages.
The novel is without doubt beautifully written with close attention to historical detail bringing this glass making saga across time alive. There’s some wonderful symbolism scattered throughout, especially of dolphins which I love and that is used so well in the final twist of the storytelling. It’s original, different and transporting which is par for the course with this gifted writer.
What I didn’t like is the regular interspersing of Italian words and phrases. I know some Italian and it is easy to work out the words I don’t know but still, it doesn’t seem necessary to me!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, HarperFiction, The Borough Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
May 22, 2024
Tracy Chevalier was one of the authors who impelled me to read historical fiction and I have read all her novels. The Glassmaker is set on the island of Murano and follows the Rosso family of glassmakers, skipping across time from 1486 to the present. It is an unusual and inventive way of storytelling and takes some suspension of belief but, as always, Chevalier’s storytelling is impelling.
Orsola Rosso was a rare female working in glass, albeit to make beads–what her glassmaker brother sneeringly calls escrementi di topo–mouse turds. The family has made art glass for generations, gorgeous drinking glasses and pitchers and plates. The family’s fortunes rise and fall as politics and taste changes, forcing them to change their products, but in hard times, the beads kept the family fed.
From making art glass pieces to the mass production of the beads favored by natives abroad, and later used for fashion, the entire process and history of glassmaking is central to the book.
To keep the secrets of glassmaking, Murano glassmakers protected their secrets by outlawing leaving the island for ‘terrafirma’. When European countries developed their own glassmaking the competition impacted the Murano glassworkers. Napoleon’s conquests in Italy meant he could gift Venice to Austria, who modernized the city by filling in canals and building roads. Trading in Africa and the New World drove a demand for glass beads for trade; manufacturing became about quantity not quality. And later tourism brought demands for cheap knockoffs from China.
The plague in 1574 brought losses and suffering to the Rossos. Then, in 2019, Covid afflicts the population, reminding us that there is nothing new under the sun.
Orsolo is friends with an enslaved African gondolier who works for the Austrian who buys her work to sell abroad. “Slavery runs the world,” he reminds her, “Commerce turns because of human sweat, much of it unpaid.”
Always prone to floods, with climate change flooding in Venice becomes worse.
The author compares her storytelling to a stone skipping across the water; she skips across time, keeping the same characters, showing how Orsolo and the Rossos adapt.
Thanks to the publisher for a galley through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
Orsola Rosso was a rare female working in glass, albeit to make beads–what her glassmaker brother sneeringly calls escrementi di topo–mouse turds. The family has made art glass for generations, gorgeous drinking glasses and pitchers and plates. The family’s fortunes rise and fall as politics and taste changes, forcing them to change their products, but in hard times, the beads kept the family fed.
From making art glass pieces to the mass production of the beads favored by natives abroad, and later used for fashion, the entire process and history of glassmaking is central to the book.
To keep the secrets of glassmaking, Murano glassmakers protected their secrets by outlawing leaving the island for ‘terrafirma’. When European countries developed their own glassmaking the competition impacted the Murano glassworkers. Napoleon’s conquests in Italy meant he could gift Venice to Austria, who modernized the city by filling in canals and building roads. Trading in Africa and the New World drove a demand for glass beads for trade; manufacturing became about quantity not quality. And later tourism brought demands for cheap knockoffs from China.
The plague in 1574 brought losses and suffering to the Rossos. Then, in 2019, Covid afflicts the population, reminding us that there is nothing new under the sun.
Orsolo is friends with an enslaved African gondolier who works for the Austrian who buys her work to sell abroad. “Slavery runs the world,” he reminds her, “Commerce turns because of human sweat, much of it unpaid.”
Always prone to floods, with climate change flooding in Venice becomes worse.
The author compares her storytelling to a stone skipping across the water; she skips across time, keeping the same characters, showing how Orsolo and the Rossos adapt.
Thanks to the publisher for a galley through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
May 9, 2024
I’m struggling to know how to review this book, on the one hand I absolutely loved it, it’s classic Chevalier, this time with her beautiful crafted descriptions of glassmaking, the Island of Murano and Venice. Her characters are well developed and the storyline draws you in and pulls you along. On the other hand the play with the timeline just didn’t work for me and the ending felt rushed and confusing.
The book centres on Orsola Rosso and her family who are Murano glassmakers, it spans 6 centuries, covering significant periods in world history and how they affect the family, the history of glassmaking and Murano itself. For me this is where it felt problematic, because as the timeline shifted, the age of the characters did not. If I hadn’t been so invested in Orsola Rosso and entranced by Chevalier’s beautiful writing I probably wouldn’t have finished the book. This is going to be a marmite book I think!
The book centres on Orsola Rosso and her family who are Murano glassmakers, it spans 6 centuries, covering significant periods in world history and how they affect the family, the history of glassmaking and Murano itself. For me this is where it felt problematic, because as the timeline shifted, the age of the characters did not. If I hadn’t been so invested in Orsola Rosso and entranced by Chevalier’s beautiful writing I probably wouldn’t have finished the book. This is going to be a marmite book I think!
July 8, 2024
3.5 rounded up. Interesting “time travel” idea that was surprisingly seamless.
May 3, 2024
I have always been fascinated by the world of crafts displayed in Tracy Chevalier's novels. Always a different craft, always masterfully woven in the storyline fitting perfectly the plot. This novel is no exception! Even though the time setting is a bit different as it spreads over centuries, with the same characters who grow older but only by a few years instead of centuries. It may seem strange but it worked perfectly: the psychological development of the characters exactly fit the new time period they live in. This enables the reader to follow a (as any) family of glassmakers along with the marking social, political events which affected their craft over the years. No need to create a new set of characters. Very impressive! As for the characters themselves, they are so finely depicted, you can see , hear them. What I also really enjoyed and seems to be characteristic for the author, is the description of the settings, here Venice. Venice is vividly painted along with its own (social, political, architectural)development through the centuries. This was fascinating! I highly recommend this novel!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.
July 2, 2024
A combination of historical fiction with a smidgen of magical realism tossed in, The Glassmaker begins in 1486 on the island of Murano and concludes in the present day. And yes, the main protagonist, Orsola Rosso and those immediately around her aged well and are alive in the present day, thanks to the slow flow of time similar to the movement of molten glass. (This is not a spoiler - it’s in the book blurb.) Orsola is a strong female character in a family of traditional glassblowers. Unfortunately, young girls or women are not usually part of the business and Orsola has to make her own contributions in the art of glassmaking without the knowledge of her oldest brother, the maestro. The historical setting, trade, and culture across the centuries were interesting but I think because the book crosses so many years, it was challenging to get the full picture of any given timeframe, except the first few years. Overall, I enjoyed the read and most of the characters set against the backdrop of one of most interesting countries in the world. So a 3.5 rating rounded up to 4. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
June 29, 2024
A CREATIVE TIMELINE SKIPPING THROUGH CENTURIES
SUMMARY
THE GLASSMAKER tells the story of Orsolo Rosso, the eldest daughter in a family of male glassblowers on the island of Murano off the Venetian coast. When her father dies suddenly, Orsolo secretly starts making glass beads to support her family. The story follows Orsolo and her family through centuries of triumph, transformation, love, and loss.
REVIEW
Tracy Chevalier, the author, creatively accelerates the THE GLASSMAKER timeline through the centuries while the characters age at a much slower pace. The story begins in 1486 during the Renaissance, and Orsolo is only nine years old. By Chapter Two, 80 years have passed, but Orsolo is only eighteen. This acceleration of time allows us to see Orsolo and her family spanning the years from the Renaissance to 2019, with Orsolo being only 65 years old. It was fascinating to witness the family adapt and transform through the ages.
I found the tale mesmerizing and difficult to put down. It was a captivating portrait of a woman with strength and perseverance. Chevalier's writing is masterful.
While Orsolo is the central character, her mother and brothers play key roles, as does the glass dealer in Venice and a caring woman from a competing family in Murano who helped Orsolo get her start in bead-making. Each character is unique and pivotal to Orsolo’s life.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher Penguin Group Viking
Published June 18, 2024
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com
SUMMARY
THE GLASSMAKER tells the story of Orsolo Rosso, the eldest daughter in a family of male glassblowers on the island of Murano off the Venetian coast. When her father dies suddenly, Orsolo secretly starts making glass beads to support her family. The story follows Orsolo and her family through centuries of triumph, transformation, love, and loss.
REVIEW
Tracy Chevalier, the author, creatively accelerates the THE GLASSMAKER timeline through the centuries while the characters age at a much slower pace. The story begins in 1486 during the Renaissance, and Orsolo is only nine years old. By Chapter Two, 80 years have passed, but Orsolo is only eighteen. This acceleration of time allows us to see Orsolo and her family spanning the years from the Renaissance to 2019, with Orsolo being only 65 years old. It was fascinating to witness the family adapt and transform through the ages.
I found the tale mesmerizing and difficult to put down. It was a captivating portrait of a woman with strength and perseverance. Chevalier's writing is masterful.
While Orsolo is the central character, her mother and brothers play key roles, as does the glass dealer in Venice and a caring woman from a competing family in Murano who helped Orsolo get her start in bead-making. Each character is unique and pivotal to Orsolo’s life.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher Penguin Group Viking
Published June 18, 2024
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com
June 29, 2024
The Glassmaker - Chevalier
5 stars
“That sudden passage of time: What does it matter, one century or another, as long as Orsola is accompanied by those she loves and those she needs and even those she hates?”
This book is unique. It is an historical family saga, but without the constantly changing cast of characters through the ages. It is not a time travel fantasy, but it begins in 1486 and ends in the 21st century. It is not the dreaded split timeline novel, but threads of time do split in the progress of the story until they are finally fused at the end. Orsola Russo and her loved ones are not immortal. They live in Murano and Venice. Time passes differently there than it does on Terra Firma, elsewhere on the planet.
“If you skim a flat stone skillfully across water, it will touch down many times, in long or short intervals as it lands. With that image in mind, now replace water with time.”
With that explanation, Chevalier sets the Russo family story in motion through the ages. At the beginning of the book, I was skeptical. Lightman played with a similar idea of regional time variations in Einstein’s Dreams, but I couldn’t see how it would work in a full-length novel.
It did work. Before the book ended, I was totally comfortable with the idea that the Russo family would continue with their daily concerns of housekeeping and glassmaking at their own pace while accommodating the outside world only when necessary. I liked the comparisons that could happen with the compression of centuries.
Orsola Russo is Chevalier’s primary female/feminist, protagonist in this novel. Murano glass work is, of course, a totally male industry. The book begins and ends with the competitive tension between Orsola and the head of the family, her brother, Marco. Orsolo carves a small independence for herself with hand crafted glass beads. As years and centuries pass, this becomes an entree for female artisans in business. I enjoyed the way Orsola was always there, crafting beads, while Chevalier shifted the social and political setting.
I learned a bit about glassmaking from reading this book. Chevalier had clearly done her research. She captured the hierarchy of the workshop and the labor of learning an exacting craft. The Russo glassmakers struggled constantly to balance the desire to create art with the practical necessity to make a living and run a household.
“People who make things also have an ambiguous relationship with time. Painters, writers, wood-carvers, knitters, weavers and, yes, glassmakers: creators often enter an absorbed state that psychologists call flow, in which hours pass without their noticing.
Readers, too.”
As a reader, I was definitely in the flow.
5 stars
“That sudden passage of time: What does it matter, one century or another, as long as Orsola is accompanied by those she loves and those she needs and even those she hates?”
This book is unique. It is an historical family saga, but without the constantly changing cast of characters through the ages. It is not a time travel fantasy, but it begins in 1486 and ends in the 21st century. It is not the dreaded split timeline novel, but threads of time do split in the progress of the story until they are finally fused at the end. Orsola Russo and her loved ones are not immortal. They live in Murano and Venice. Time passes differently there than it does on Terra Firma, elsewhere on the planet.
“If you skim a flat stone skillfully across water, it will touch down many times, in long or short intervals as it lands. With that image in mind, now replace water with time.”
With that explanation, Chevalier sets the Russo family story in motion through the ages. At the beginning of the book, I was skeptical. Lightman played with a similar idea of regional time variations in Einstein’s Dreams, but I couldn’t see how it would work in a full-length novel.
It did work. Before the book ended, I was totally comfortable with the idea that the Russo family would continue with their daily concerns of housekeeping and glassmaking at their own pace while accommodating the outside world only when necessary. I liked the comparisons that could happen with the compression of centuries.
Orsola Russo is Chevalier’s primary female/feminist, protagonist in this novel. Murano glass work is, of course, a totally male industry. The book begins and ends with the competitive tension between Orsola and the head of the family, her brother, Marco. Orsolo carves a small independence for herself with hand crafted glass beads. As years and centuries pass, this becomes an entree for female artisans in business. I enjoyed the way Orsola was always there, crafting beads, while Chevalier shifted the social and political setting.
I learned a bit about glassmaking from reading this book. Chevalier had clearly done her research. She captured the hierarchy of the workshop and the labor of learning an exacting craft. The Russo glassmakers struggled constantly to balance the desire to create art with the practical necessity to make a living and run a household.
“People who make things also have an ambiguous relationship with time. Painters, writers, wood-carvers, knitters, weavers and, yes, glassmakers: creators often enter an absorbed state that psychologists call flow, in which hours pass without their noticing.
Readers, too.”
As a reader, I was definitely in the flow.
February 28, 2024
Thank you to Viking and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on June 18th, 2024.
Writing: 3.5/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 4.5/5
A chronicle of glass making in Murano (still known as the center of glass!) as told through the life of Orsola Rosso — the eldest daughter of a glass blowing family. Orsola wants to work with glass herself, but it’s 1486 and the Renaissance hasn’t quite reached the stage of promoting social changes for women. The story uses the (very) unusual contrivance of allowing Orsola and those in her immediate orbit to age slowly while time for the world at large gallops by. While the “action” starts in 1486 and ends in the present day, Orsola only ages from nine to her late sixties. While this device is explained (poetically) in the prolog, I didn’t really get it so I’m hoping that I can help you avoid bafflement by stating it here with less skill but more clarity :-)
Orsola’s life embodies the personal (love, marriage, and children in a large extended family rife with personalities), the political (Venice shifting from commercial center to Austrian occupied territory to part of a United Italy to tourist center) , and the business (Guild control to competitive pressures to tourist-driven). She and her family go through the Plague (and later Covid!), two world wars, and the changing mores of an evolving Europe as the Renaissance gave way to the Age of Enlightenment followed by whatever our current age is destined to be called. I learned a lot about Italian history — details that I had learned in the past now integrated and brought to life in this story of artisans buffeted by the constantly shifting trends over time. The history became so much more real to me told through the lens of this particular family.
I give this a four star rating because for my taste there was a little more description than I like, though that same description may fascinate others.
Writing: 3.5/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 4.5/5
A chronicle of glass making in Murano (still known as the center of glass!) as told through the life of Orsola Rosso — the eldest daughter of a glass blowing family. Orsola wants to work with glass herself, but it’s 1486 and the Renaissance hasn’t quite reached the stage of promoting social changes for women. The story uses the (very) unusual contrivance of allowing Orsola and those in her immediate orbit to age slowly while time for the world at large gallops by. While the “action” starts in 1486 and ends in the present day, Orsola only ages from nine to her late sixties. While this device is explained (poetically) in the prolog, I didn’t really get it so I’m hoping that I can help you avoid bafflement by stating it here with less skill but more clarity :-)
Orsola’s life embodies the personal (love, marriage, and children in a large extended family rife with personalities), the political (Venice shifting from commercial center to Austrian occupied territory to part of a United Italy to tourist center) , and the business (Guild control to competitive pressures to tourist-driven). She and her family go through the Plague (and later Covid!), two world wars, and the changing mores of an evolving Europe as the Renaissance gave way to the Age of Enlightenment followed by whatever our current age is destined to be called. I learned a lot about Italian history — details that I had learned in the past now integrated and brought to life in this story of artisans buffeted by the constantly shifting trends over time. The history became so much more real to me told through the lens of this particular family.
I give this a four star rating because for my taste there was a little more description than I like, though that same description may fascinate others.
July 13, 2024
The author really should have just written a straight up historical fiction. She is very good at that.
The skipping-stones-time-jumps just didn’t work for me. For those who have not read this, the concept is based on the premise that at the start of each chapter, there is a time jump where the family you get to know, jumps 80 or 100 years ahead and you can experience how they navigate life, work and everything else in this new time zone.
Great concept, right? Welllllll not so fast.
The problem for me is that the Murano family do not seem to realise they are in a different century with each jump. This felt like a lazy way of shoehorning some interesting events rather than spending time developing the characters.
The skipping-stones-time-jumps just didn’t work for me. For those who have not read this, the concept is based on the premise that at the start of each chapter, there is a time jump where the family you get to know, jumps 80 or 100 years ahead and you can experience how they navigate life, work and everything else in this new time zone.
Great concept, right? Welllllll not so fast.
The problem for me is that the Murano family do not seem to realise they are in a different century with each jump. This felt like a lazy way of shoehorning some interesting events rather than spending time developing the characters.
July 7, 2024
Definitely one of her best in a long time a magical Italian story
July 2, 2024
This was a wonderful read. I enjoyed learning about a family of glassmakers in Murano, Italy during the 15th century. Their triumphs and tribulations over many decades was insurmountable at times, but they always found a different and innovative way to change their art. Orsola Rosso was my favorite protagonist in the story. She was a strong woman who believed in herself and her ability to create anything she set her mind to. A woman of that century who took chances and didn't allow herself to be subjected to criticism in a male dominated world.
July 15, 2024
If you decide to skip The Glassmaker, you will miss absolutely nothing. Maybe you’ll miss out on feeling a bit disappointed because The Glassmaker fails to deliver.
It tries to do too much, and while the attempts are ok, they remain attempts throughout the book. I think its greatest fault is the magic which seems to have made the author lose focus and meander all over the place, with no clear destination.
There are many, many characters in this book, and I can’t tell you the name of half of them. A few are decently fleshed out – not superbly, decently. Others are just silhouettes, with a trait (or two) to help the distinction. As a story about a glassmaking family through the centuries, this makes the point of the narrative elusive, not to use a harsher word – nonexistent.
For more than 13 hours, I failed to care about anyone and anything. I was marginally interested where the story was going which is the only reason why I persevered. That and the fact that I picked up the audio book. If it wasn’t for the listening, I’d have probably DNFed it.
It tries to do too much, and while the attempts are ok, they remain attempts throughout the book. I think its greatest fault is the magic which seems to have made the author lose focus and meander all over the place, with no clear destination.
There are many, many characters in this book, and I can’t tell you the name of half of them. A few are decently fleshed out – not superbly, decently. Others are just silhouettes, with a trait (or two) to help the distinction. As a story about a glassmaking family through the centuries, this makes the point of the narrative elusive, not to use a harsher word – nonexistent.
For more than 13 hours, I failed to care about anyone and anything. I was marginally interested where the story was going which is the only reason why I persevered. That and the fact that I picked up the audio book. If it wasn’t for the listening, I’d have probably DNFed it.
June 16, 2024
What a wonderful read. I am a fan of historical fiction but not generally a fan of messing with time. Orsola Rosso is 9 at the beginning of this story and chapter by chapter “she and those who matter to her” age significantly less than the number of years that have passed. This way we travel from 1486 to the present day and learn about glassmaking, Murano and Venice over the years with the same Orsala. An easy recommendation for historical fiction fans. #indigoemployee
July 7, 2024
Interesting story.
June 24, 2024
I’ve read and enjoyed most of Tracy Chevalier’s novels but this one didn’t capture me and carry me along in the way most of the others did. The novel spanned five hundred years but the central characters aged at a very slow rate so the protagonist was a child at the outset in the 15th century and in her sixties in 2022. I have no problem with this kind of magical realism but it seemed like the main focus of the book was the history of glass making and the changes in life on Murano and in Venice. By not changing the characters in a dynastic way the novel lacked the opportunity for new experiences especially as the characters themselves never acknowledged their special ability to age at such a slow rate. Because of that it felt stilted and restricted.
April 29, 2024
Enjoyed the history. Well written. Story was subtle but rushed at the end
July 11, 2024
I was invited to read/review this book by the publisher [PENGUIN GROUP Viking/Viking] and I thank them, NetGalley and Tracy Chevalier for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 8, 2024
Once again Tracy Chevalier has transcended time. She brings us through the ages, the epochs, and changes of Venice and in particular Murano. It’s 1486 and our main character, Orsolo Rosso, is a young girl in a family of glassmiths. Through Orsolo we experience the sounds, the scents, the foods, the people and traditions of the times. We learn of the competition between houses, the reputations and secrets of the craft.
In the Glassmaker Chevalier suspends time. She writes: “If you skim a flat stone skilfully across water, it will touch down many times, in long or short intervals as it lands. With that image in mind, now replace water with time”. And she does.
Time skims across the ages for Venice, and in an odd way for Orsolo as well as we begin with her as a young girl in the 1400s yet the book ends with her in her 60s in our modern times. During those years we experience Venice through the history of years, of plagues, war, Napoleon, trade. Confusing? Maybe. Does it work? For me, yes it does. Glassmaking is a timeless art.
One thing I enjoy in Chevalier’s work of historical fiction is the details, some so large, some so minute but ever important in transporting us and our imaginations until we are there experiencing absolutely everything. If you enjoy detailed historical fiction with strongly defined characters you will enjoy this book.
Thank you to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.
In the Glassmaker Chevalier suspends time. She writes: “If you skim a flat stone skilfully across water, it will touch down many times, in long or short intervals as it lands. With that image in mind, now replace water with time”. And she does.
Time skims across the ages for Venice, and in an odd way for Orsolo as well as we begin with her as a young girl in the 1400s yet the book ends with her in her 60s in our modern times. During those years we experience Venice through the history of years, of plagues, war, Napoleon, trade. Confusing? Maybe. Does it work? For me, yes it does. Glassmaking is a timeless art.
One thing I enjoy in Chevalier’s work of historical fiction is the details, some so large, some so minute but ever important in transporting us and our imaginations until we are there experiencing absolutely everything. If you enjoy detailed historical fiction with strongly defined characters you will enjoy this book.
Thank you to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.
June 27, 2024
The timeline aspect is weird. On one hand, I think the author is saying that Orsola Rosso is every woman, she could be from any time and place with struggles and a life rich with family and traditions, engaging in an age old practice of glassmaking. On the other hand, we are talking about a Rosso which through and through hold themselves apart from other people, the way glassmaking is in their very blood, argued until the very end. So not every woman.
And I really feel like there should have been more marked growth in the beliefs of the family as we advance to current day, but they all seem so stuck in the past, forcing traditions and family/gender roles that don’t actually fully serve anyone.
I love historical fiction, but I found the banality of much of this family’s existence to be repetitive and unserving of my relationship to the characters, time and place. Orsola is punished in every type of way. She loses the love of her life, her work and efforts are belittled and tossed aside, even though they literally save the family many times over, and she doesn’t seem to ever get what she wants, which just seems painful for the purpose of being painful. I liked her well enough and a couple other characters, but by and large it felt like I could not get fully invested. It is not hard to make me laugh or cry and I didn’t do either.
And I really feel like there should have been more marked growth in the beliefs of the family as we advance to current day, but they all seem so stuck in the past, forcing traditions and family/gender roles that don’t actually fully serve anyone.
I love historical fiction, but I found the banality of much of this family’s existence to be repetitive and unserving of my relationship to the characters, time and place. Orsola is punished in every type of way. She loses the love of her life, her work and efforts are belittled and tossed aside, even though they literally save the family many times over, and she doesn’t seem to ever get what she wants, which just seems painful for the purpose of being painful. I liked her well enough and a couple other characters, but by and large it felt like I could not get fully invested. It is not hard to make me laugh or cry and I didn’t do either.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2024
Courtesy of Netgalley, I received the ARC of The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier. This unique novel, begins on Murano Island and Venice during the Renaissance Era of the 1400's and skips like a pebble on water to arrive at the last great Venetian flood and Covid, skimming through history as it impacted the glassmakers of Murano. Following the Rosso glassmaker family and focusing on the dreams and accomplishments of the women, I was entranced by the ability to revisit this area and learn more about it's past, while admiring the strength, resilience, and evolution of the women involved with glassmaking and marketing.
June 24, 2024
Seeing her in person talking about the book made it even better!!!!!!
June 24, 2024
This is such a clever book, enabling the reader to easily understand five hundred years of Venetian history whilst telling an almost linear family story. The device of moving the time backdrop behind the characters is masterly and instructive, inviting the reader into the world of glassmaking.
The reader is seamlessly transported from medieval trading to a post-covid world. The characters are so beautifully drawn that they and their relationships between each other means that you barely notice the speeded up politics and landscape. In other hands this could be clunky, irritating and tricksy but Chevalier's vision and craft caught me (and held me) in its slipstream.
I thought it was completely fabulous
With thanks to #NetGalley and #BoroughPress for the opportunity to read and review
The reader is seamlessly transported from medieval trading to a post-covid world. The characters are so beautifully drawn that they and their relationships between each other means that you barely notice the speeded up politics and landscape. In other hands this could be clunky, irritating and tricksy but Chevalier's vision and craft caught me (and held me) in its slipstream.
I thought it was completely fabulous
With thanks to #NetGalley and #BoroughPress for the opportunity to read and review
July 8, 2024
I enjoyed the history of Venice and glass-making Murano explored in the book, but otherwise found it a bit of a slog. The gimmick of time “working differently” around Venice (I.e, the characters don’t age at the same pace as the rest of the world), was confusing, and resulted in the characters being little more than names on a page as a result of the multiple time jumps. Ironically in light of these time jumps, the plot moves at a snail’s pace, with nothing exciting or climactic happening throughout the book’s 500 pages.
June 30, 2024
I loved the history of glassmaking in Murano. However, I did not like the history rundown at the beginning of each chapter. To me it was unnecessary and a distraction. 3.5 is my rating.
July 2, 2024
I thank Net Galley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for providing me with an ARC copy of this book which I freely chose to review.
I have read and enjoyed other novels by Tracy Chevalier, and most people will be familiar with some of the titles of her books, or perhaps a popular movie adaptation of one of her books.
One of the things she excels at, judging by the books I’ve read so far, is recreating not only a historical period, but also a particular craft, vocation, or endeavour, using as a guide for the readers a gifted individual (sometimes well-known in its circle and based on a real character, sometimes anonymous and fictitious) whom we accompany in their discoveries, skill development, and craftsmanship. I am always surprised at becoming enthralled by the adventures of a protagonist who spends a lot of time doing something I’d never considered interesting before (or I might have enjoyed the finished product but never given a second thought to how it is made).
Here, Chevalier uses an interesting device to cover a very long period in the history of glassmaking in Murano, a small island very close to Venice, where the population specialised in glassmaking for centuries (and to a far lesser extent, still does). She introduces us to the Rosso family, a Murano glass-making family, in 1486, and we meet Orsola, the nine-year-old daughter of the family. Rather than follow the many generations of her family up to the present, the author uses what she calls “Venetian time, alla Veneziana” and asks readers to imagine it as the skipping of a stone over the surface of the water, but, rather than water it is time we skip over. What this means is that we follow the story of this family through the centuries, but although they age (and yes, some of them die as well), they do so at a much slower pace than the rest of the world, and so do those they are in contact with. The bigger world around them moves with the times, though, but the young girl we meet at the beginning of the novel, in the XV century, is now, in the XXI century, only in her late sixties, so you can work out the speed of time for her. The author explains how this works at the beginning, and if you think you can accept that and go along with the device, I assure you that you will enjoy the novel. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it, at first, but I didn’t find it as jarring as I imagined, I became accustomed to it pretty soon, and I loved the book.
Using this framework means that we can see how things evolved without having to meet a huge number of characters (of course, the family gets bigger, and new generations appear, but it is much more manageable than it would have been otherwise), and we also have more time to get to truly know the characters (especially Orsola), and see the way the historical changes impacted on them, a family of artisans, skilled but not the most famous or best regarded. This is not history told from the point of view of the rich and powerful, of kings and politicians. More importantly, Orsola’s perspective is quite different from that of her brother (the “maestro” of the family), and readers get to learn much about a woman’s lot in life then, her limited choices, and the way some of them got to create a niche for themselves (like Orsola, who learns to make glass beads) even if their efforts were dismissed by the men in the family.
We see glimpses of History at large: some events take a big toll on the Rosso family and their neighbours and competitors (the plague, the arrival of Napoleon, the period of Austrian Rule, the floods in Venice, WWI and II, COVID), while others have little impact on their fairly isolated lives. Some true historical figures make a fleeting appearance as well (Josephine Bonaparte, although we don’t meet her in person; Casanova, and a very interesting marchioness) but their lives, like those of the many tourists that come and visit, play no important role in the story when all is said and done. The author includes a section of acknowledgements with a bibliography (basic and in more detail) for readers interested in learning more, and she also details some of her research process, as well as mentions the real characters that make it into the story (and those who are inventions), and the sources of inspiration for some of the others, including Domenego, a slave gondolier who becomes good friends with Orsola and Antonio (Orsola’s love interest, but I don’t want to go into too much detail. Read the story if you want to know more).
The love most of the characters feel for glassmaking seems intertwined with their love for Murano. Some of the funniest (and most moving) scenes were those in which we see Orsola visiting Venice for the first time or going to Terra Ferma (the world beyond Venice, not a place where you could move by gondola or a water vessel of some sort). Let’s say she’s less than enamoured with horses and their manure on her first visit.
The story is told in the third person and, as mentioned, this is Orsola’s story, and her family’s, because she can’t imagine a life without them, without Murano, and glass. She is a wonderful character, full of energy and determination, but not a woman who strays away from her role. She does not like many aspects of it, and she struggles against what she perceives as the unfairness of her situation (she craves the admiration of her older brother, Marco, who ends up being the man of the family and the maestro of the glass factory, but they are always fighting, and he dismisses her efforts), but she mostly defers to tradition or tries to get her way by allying herself with other women in the family: Laura, the wonderful mother of the family; Monica, her brother’s second wife (and one of my favourite characters); women from other glass families (like Maria Barovier and her cousin, who guide and teach Orsola how to make beads); Luciana, a Venetian woman who always speaks her mind and is disliked for it; the daughter of the German merchant they make business with, Klara, and many more. The characters are well-defined, feel true, and become almost a part of our family by the end of the novel. Readers get to know better the older generation, but that is as it should be, I am sure I’ll miss Orsola and the family Rosso and I’ll have them on my thoughts for a long time.
I’ve already said I enjoyed the novel. In case you are worried, I liked the ending as well. We spend most of the story wondering if something will happen or not. Of course, I won’t tell you what happened, but I think the ending fits the novel well, and it made me smile. As warnings go, there are sad events in the story, of course, although nothing beyond what would be expected from a historical novel covering such a big stretch of time. There are swear words galore (it seems gondoliers, in the past at least, used choice language with their kind, and they had quite an imagination!), but those are in Italian/Venetian. There are also plenty of words in Italian (and some in the Venetian dialect); most of them are easy to work out from the context, and in other cases, they tend to be explained within the text, at least the first time they appear. There is also a Glossary at the end for those who prefer to know exactly what every word means. I only had access to an ARC copy, so I am unsure if there might be a direct link to the definitions of the terms in the glossary for those who access the final version. Be prewarned, though: insults are also translated, so be careful what you check if you prefer to avoid that kind of language.
This is a great historical novel, though it requires readers to engage in the way the author has chosen to adapt the passing of time, and it is a beautiful book about Murano, glassmaking, and what life has been like for women living in that region and for glassmaking families from Murano and Venice over the years. It is an ambitious book, and it covers over five centuries, but it remains focused on a woman and her family, and that is what makes it so engaging and enjoyable. Totally recommended.
I have read and enjoyed other novels by Tracy Chevalier, and most people will be familiar with some of the titles of her books, or perhaps a popular movie adaptation of one of her books.
One of the things she excels at, judging by the books I’ve read so far, is recreating not only a historical period, but also a particular craft, vocation, or endeavour, using as a guide for the readers a gifted individual (sometimes well-known in its circle and based on a real character, sometimes anonymous and fictitious) whom we accompany in their discoveries, skill development, and craftsmanship. I am always surprised at becoming enthralled by the adventures of a protagonist who spends a lot of time doing something I’d never considered interesting before (or I might have enjoyed the finished product but never given a second thought to how it is made).
Here, Chevalier uses an interesting device to cover a very long period in the history of glassmaking in Murano, a small island very close to Venice, where the population specialised in glassmaking for centuries (and to a far lesser extent, still does). She introduces us to the Rosso family, a Murano glass-making family, in 1486, and we meet Orsola, the nine-year-old daughter of the family. Rather than follow the many generations of her family up to the present, the author uses what she calls “Venetian time, alla Veneziana” and asks readers to imagine it as the skipping of a stone over the surface of the water, but, rather than water it is time we skip over. What this means is that we follow the story of this family through the centuries, but although they age (and yes, some of them die as well), they do so at a much slower pace than the rest of the world, and so do those they are in contact with. The bigger world around them moves with the times, though, but the young girl we meet at the beginning of the novel, in the XV century, is now, in the XXI century, only in her late sixties, so you can work out the speed of time for her. The author explains how this works at the beginning, and if you think you can accept that and go along with the device, I assure you that you will enjoy the novel. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it, at first, but I didn’t find it as jarring as I imagined, I became accustomed to it pretty soon, and I loved the book.
Using this framework means that we can see how things evolved without having to meet a huge number of characters (of course, the family gets bigger, and new generations appear, but it is much more manageable than it would have been otherwise), and we also have more time to get to truly know the characters (especially Orsola), and see the way the historical changes impacted on them, a family of artisans, skilled but not the most famous or best regarded. This is not history told from the point of view of the rich and powerful, of kings and politicians. More importantly, Orsola’s perspective is quite different from that of her brother (the “maestro” of the family), and readers get to learn much about a woman’s lot in life then, her limited choices, and the way some of them got to create a niche for themselves (like Orsola, who learns to make glass beads) even if their efforts were dismissed by the men in the family.
We see glimpses of History at large: some events take a big toll on the Rosso family and their neighbours and competitors (the plague, the arrival of Napoleon, the period of Austrian Rule, the floods in Venice, WWI and II, COVID), while others have little impact on their fairly isolated lives. Some true historical figures make a fleeting appearance as well (Josephine Bonaparte, although we don’t meet her in person; Casanova, and a very interesting marchioness) but their lives, like those of the many tourists that come and visit, play no important role in the story when all is said and done. The author includes a section of acknowledgements with a bibliography (basic and in more detail) for readers interested in learning more, and she also details some of her research process, as well as mentions the real characters that make it into the story (and those who are inventions), and the sources of inspiration for some of the others, including Domenego, a slave gondolier who becomes good friends with Orsola and Antonio (Orsola’s love interest, but I don’t want to go into too much detail. Read the story if you want to know more).
The love most of the characters feel for glassmaking seems intertwined with their love for Murano. Some of the funniest (and most moving) scenes were those in which we see Orsola visiting Venice for the first time or going to Terra Ferma (the world beyond Venice, not a place where you could move by gondola or a water vessel of some sort). Let’s say she’s less than enamoured with horses and their manure on her first visit.
The story is told in the third person and, as mentioned, this is Orsola’s story, and her family’s, because she can’t imagine a life without them, without Murano, and glass. She is a wonderful character, full of energy and determination, but not a woman who strays away from her role. She does not like many aspects of it, and she struggles against what she perceives as the unfairness of her situation (she craves the admiration of her older brother, Marco, who ends up being the man of the family and the maestro of the glass factory, but they are always fighting, and he dismisses her efforts), but she mostly defers to tradition or tries to get her way by allying herself with other women in the family: Laura, the wonderful mother of the family; Monica, her brother’s second wife (and one of my favourite characters); women from other glass families (like Maria Barovier and her cousin, who guide and teach Orsola how to make beads); Luciana, a Venetian woman who always speaks her mind and is disliked for it; the daughter of the German merchant they make business with, Klara, and many more. The characters are well-defined, feel true, and become almost a part of our family by the end of the novel. Readers get to know better the older generation, but that is as it should be, I am sure I’ll miss Orsola and the family Rosso and I’ll have them on my thoughts for a long time.
I’ve already said I enjoyed the novel. In case you are worried, I liked the ending as well. We spend most of the story wondering if something will happen or not. Of course, I won’t tell you what happened, but I think the ending fits the novel well, and it made me smile. As warnings go, there are sad events in the story, of course, although nothing beyond what would be expected from a historical novel covering such a big stretch of time. There are swear words galore (it seems gondoliers, in the past at least, used choice language with their kind, and they had quite an imagination!), but those are in Italian/Venetian. There are also plenty of words in Italian (and some in the Venetian dialect); most of them are easy to work out from the context, and in other cases, they tend to be explained within the text, at least the first time they appear. There is also a Glossary at the end for those who prefer to know exactly what every word means. I only had access to an ARC copy, so I am unsure if there might be a direct link to the definitions of the terms in the glossary for those who access the final version. Be prewarned, though: insults are also translated, so be careful what you check if you prefer to avoid that kind of language.
This is a great historical novel, though it requires readers to engage in the way the author has chosen to adapt the passing of time, and it is a beautiful book about Murano, glassmaking, and what life has been like for women living in that region and for glassmaking families from Murano and Venice over the years. It is an ambitious book, and it covers over five centuries, but it remains focused on a woman and her family, and that is what makes it so engaging and enjoyable. Totally recommended.
July 6, 2024
Dacă ați citit "Fata cu cercel de perlă sau orice alt roman scris de Tracy Chevalier, știți că scriitoarea iubește să își r��sfețe cititorii cu oportunitatea de a călători în timp, prin poveștile pe care le așterne pe hârtie.
Ultimul său roman " The glassmaker" (mi-ar plăcea dacă s-ar traduce la noi cu titlul de "Făuritoarea de sticlă"), oglindește fresca familiei Rosso, făuritori de sticlă de pe insula Murano, având în prim-plan pe Orsola Rosso - fiica cea mare a acestor meșteri sticlari. Tot ceea ce Orsola visează este să făurească ea însăși sticla de Murano, dar anul 1486 este unul aparținând patriarhatului, locul femeii fiind la bucătărie, printre prunci flămânzi și mormane de haine nespălate. Însă Orsola nu renunță la visul său, înfruntând astfel nenumărate obstacole pe care vă las să le descoperiți singuri, citind cartea.
Scriitoarea grefează în intrigă un element de realism magic, firul narativ începe în anul 1486 și se termină în zilele noastre, familia Rosso și cei din jurul lor îmbătrânind într-un ritm încetinit, de-a lungul celor aproape 600 de ani cuprinși în roman. Orsola și familia ei trec prin ciuma devastatoare, două războaie mondiale și schimbările unei Europe în evoluție, pe măsură ce Renașterea a făcut loc epocii Iluminismului, urmată de epoca noastră actuală.
Ceea ce nu mi s-a părut neted în intrigă, au fost tocmai aceste salturi în timp, mi s-au părut forțate și cumva artificial ancorate poveștii inițiale. Și am mai remarcat cum scriitoarea a încercat să dea mai multă amploare intrigii, urzind ițe narative în jurul renumitului Giacomo Casanova și Joséphine a lui Napoleon.
Romanul întruchipează nu doar dragoste, căsătorie și copii veniți într-o familie numeroasă și puternic nuanțată din punct de vedere psiho-emoțional, dar și politică, Veneția trecând de la un centru comercial la un teritoriu ocupat de austrieci, la o parte a Italiei Unite și în cele din urmă la un centru turistic renumit. Prin prisma aceste familii ieşite din comun am învățat multe despre istoria Italiei și cea a sticlei deopotrivă cu emanciparea femeilor. Datorită unei documentări excepționale săvârșită de scriitoare, am apreciat detaliile prelucrării sticlei, cum este organizată breasla meșterilor sticlari dar am notat și presiunile concurenţiale produse de fenomenul industrializării și producției în masă a sticlei, când sticla se transformă din artă în fabrică.
Știai că cea mai veche cafenea din lume se află la Venezia? Caffè Florian, adăpostită de bolțile din marginea Pieței San Marco, a servit cafea începând cu anul 1720 și era singura cafenea care accepta în acele timpuri, printre clienți și femei.
Ultimul său roman " The glassmaker" (mi-ar plăcea dacă s-ar traduce la noi cu titlul de "Făuritoarea de sticlă"), oglindește fresca familiei Rosso, făuritori de sticlă de pe insula Murano, având în prim-plan pe Orsola Rosso - fiica cea mare a acestor meșteri sticlari. Tot ceea ce Orsola visează este să făurească ea însăși sticla de Murano, dar anul 1486 este unul aparținând patriarhatului, locul femeii fiind la bucătărie, printre prunci flămânzi și mormane de haine nespălate. Însă Orsola nu renunță la visul său, înfruntând astfel nenumărate obstacole pe care vă las să le descoperiți singuri, citind cartea.
Scriitoarea grefează în intrigă un element de realism magic, firul narativ începe în anul 1486 și se termină în zilele noastre, familia Rosso și cei din jurul lor îmbătrânind într-un ritm încetinit, de-a lungul celor aproape 600 de ani cuprinși în roman. Orsola și familia ei trec prin ciuma devastatoare, două războaie mondiale și schimbările unei Europe în evoluție, pe măsură ce Renașterea a făcut loc epocii Iluminismului, urmată de epoca noastră actuală.
Ceea ce nu mi s-a părut neted în intrigă, au fost tocmai aceste salturi în timp, mi s-au părut forțate și cumva artificial ancorate poveștii inițiale. Și am mai remarcat cum scriitoarea a încercat să dea mai multă amploare intrigii, urzind ițe narative în jurul renumitului Giacomo Casanova și Joséphine a lui Napoleon.
Romanul întruchipează nu doar dragoste, căsătorie și copii veniți într-o familie numeroasă și puternic nuanțată din punct de vedere psiho-emoțional, dar și politică, Veneția trecând de la un centru comercial la un teritoriu ocupat de austrieci, la o parte a Italiei Unite și în cele din urmă la un centru turistic renumit. Prin prisma aceste familii ieşite din comun am învățat multe despre istoria Italiei și cea a sticlei deopotrivă cu emanciparea femeilor. Datorită unei documentări excepționale săvârșită de scriitoare, am apreciat detaliile prelucrării sticlei, cum este organizată breasla meșterilor sticlari dar am notat și presiunile concurenţiale produse de fenomenul industrializării și producției în masă a sticlei, când sticla se transformă din artă în fabrică.
Știai că cea mai veche cafenea din lume se află la Venezia? Caffè Florian, adăpostită de bolțile din marginea Pieței San Marco, a servit cafea începând cu anul 1720 și era singura cafenea care accepta în acele timpuri, printre clienți și femei.
July 12, 2024
Tracy Chevalier's latest novel transports readers to Murano just off the coast of Venice, Italy where artisans have been creating beautiful glassware for generations. The story begins late in the 15th century (1486) and introduces young Orsola Rosso who is 9 years old at the time and the eldest daughter in a family of glassmakers. Women were not allowed to blow glass but when Orsola's father dies a few years later, she secretly starts making glass beads which help support the family through difficult times.
The Glassmaker follows Orsula and the Rosso family from Renaissance-era Italy through plagues, the Napoleonic era, two world wars and into the 21st century and Covid-19. The family experience also provides a window into the transformation of Venice over time from a city of trade to a city of tourists. This is done using an interesting construct related to the passage of time. Time is described as skipping like a stone - it passes like molten glass in Venice as compared to terra firma so that more than 500 years passes over the course of the novel but the characters in Venice have aged slowly - Orsula born late in the 15th century is only in her '60s in 2019.
Well-researched, imaginative and creative, this is the story of a woman, of a city and of the art of glassblowing. It's interesting historical fiction but with elements of magical realism blended in to allow the slow aging of characters over hundreds of years. I don't generally enjoy magical realism but found The Glassmaker to be beautifully written and a compelling read. The novel reads like historical fiction and I found myself forgetting that hundreds of years were slipping by as Orsola grew older and just enjoying the story.
The Glassmaker follows Orsula and the Rosso family from Renaissance-era Italy through plagues, the Napoleonic era, two world wars and into the 21st century and Covid-19. The family experience also provides a window into the transformation of Venice over time from a city of trade to a city of tourists. This is done using an interesting construct related to the passage of time. Time is described as skipping like a stone - it passes like molten glass in Venice as compared to terra firma so that more than 500 years passes over the course of the novel but the characters in Venice have aged slowly - Orsula born late in the 15th century is only in her '60s in 2019.
Well-researched, imaginative and creative, this is the story of a woman, of a city and of the art of glassblowing. It's interesting historical fiction but with elements of magical realism blended in to allow the slow aging of characters over hundreds of years. I don't generally enjoy magical realism but found The Glassmaker to be beautifully written and a compelling read. The novel reads like historical fiction and I found myself forgetting that hundreds of years were slipping by as Orsola grew older and just enjoying the story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 296 reviews